Page 34 of No Other Love
Neelima laughed again. And bid us goodbye after promising to come back the next day for her daily checkup. She was due to deliver any day, and I wanted her monitored as much as possible.
I now watched Anika move about the exam room, setting the tray back in place, wipe the stethoscope and cuff with disinfectant so it was ready for the next patient.
‘Having fun?’ I asked, idly.
Anika shrugged. ‘Would it surprise you if I said I actually am?’
Yes.
‘No.’ I looked at Anika’s marking on Neelima’s patient file. ‘You handled Neelima quite well.’
‘I’m a doctor, babe.’ Anika remarked absently. ‘It’s what I do best.’
‘Yes, but you have to admit that your bedside manner always needed work.’ I put my hands up in defense when she would have countered. ‘You are an incredible surgeon but it’s not the same thing, exactly, is it? Talking to a to-be-mom versus actually saving her child on the OT?’
Anika stopped moving and gave the question actual consideration. ‘You’re right,’ she conceded. ‘Doing this…what you do…Talking. Connecting.Making people less afraid of medicine while treating them despite their best intentions, it’s hard. I am not good at it.’
‘You were great at it, today,’ I said gently. ‘Neelima always came here in tears because her in-laws are stressing her out about delivering a boy.’
Anika nodded. ‘Yeah. She mentioned it. I didn’t want to press the issue.’ She gave me a sideways glance. ‘Or tell her she should ask her in-laws to fuck off.’
I grinned. ‘Thank God! I would have to answer to her in-laws if you did something like that.’ My grin faded. ‘Not that they don’t deserve it.’
Anika crossed over to me and squeezed my wrist. ‘I never understood, not really, why this was important to you. I’m beginning to see why now. It’s admirable, Vikrant.’
My heart stuttered at the sincere earnestness of her compliment. It was like she had actually transformed into adifferent person, someone who was more present and less bitter and resentful. It made her luminous.
‘But you still want to cut open little babies,’ I said quietly.
Anika smiled sadly. ‘What I do is admirable too.’ Her words were uttered with quiet pride. She wasn’t asking for my validation or approval. And that made her a heroine.
I nodded. ‘Yes, it does. And I’m really glad to have your expertise here for however long I can have it.’
‘Me too.’
I wanted to tell her more, tell her everything, but the little bell rang, signaling that the next patient had come.
The moment was lost, so I flashed another smile and said, ‘Let me take this next patient. I’m almost done with file work for today.’
***
We continued working in unison, crossing exam rooms and talking to each other and the available compounder (local pharmacist) until it was past two pm.
Then, Anika stuck her head in my office. ‘Hey, Smita Kaki just texted me. Apparently, the feast is ready. We should head back for lunch.’
‘Yeah. Okay. Give me a minute.’ I paused stacking the dusty files I’d removed for updating and carelessly placed the last one in the middle of the stack instead of the top.
As a result, the whole thing, all fifty files, came crashing down on my head. I yelled and cursed and waved my hands wildly to combat the papers and cardboard files raining down on me.
Anika squealed and immediately leaped into the room. ‘Oh my god, Vik. Are you hurt?’
‘Just my dignity,’ I muttered as the last piece of paper fluttered down.
We bent down simultaneously to gather the papers, and promptly bumped our heads.
‘Ouch,’ Anika muttered as she sat down hard on the old-fashioned mosaic tiles, rubbing her temple.
‘I’m sorry.’ Without thinking, I bent over her and cupped the back of her head in my palm. My thumb brushed against her temple. Soft and a bit dewy with sweat.